Gun with variable firing frequency



O United States Patent 1 3,548,801

[72] lnventors Raymond J. Lohr; [56] References Cited Merle K Lewis,Erie, UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 PP 675537 2,238,384 4/1941 Feltman124/50ux [22] Filed Oct. 16, 1967 Patented Dec 22 1970 2,918,915 12/1959Doeg 124/50X 2,835,495 5 1958 L h t l. 273 1 1 [73] Assignee LoukMarx&Co.,lnc. 0 re a l 0 New y Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham acol-pong f New y Assistant Examiner-William R. Brown Attomey-Blum,Moscovitz, Friedman and Kaplan ABSTRACT: A un which is mechanicallrather than ex lo- '1 t d fh bl f h'all sive y ac uate e gun is capa e 0mec anlc y pro ect- [54] FIRING FREQUENCY ing projectiles toward a giventarget and the frequency with g which the projectiles are fired can beselected. The gun has a [52] U.S. 124/6, slow-tire position where onlyone projectile will be thrown 124/50. 124/31: 273/101 toward the targeteach time the trigger is actuated, and the [51] Int. Cl F411) 3/04 gunalso has a rapid fire position where the projectiles will be [50] Fieldof Search 124/4, 6, thrown one after the other without interruptiontoward a given target as long as the trigger is held in its firingposition.

PATENTEU UEC22 I970 SHEET 1 OF 3 INVI'ZN'IUKS RAYMOND J. LOHR MERLE R.LEWIS PATENTEDHEBZZIENB 3;548;801

SHEET 2 OF 3 FIGX4 3 70 8 2 RAYMOND J. LOHR fi MERLE R. LEWIS I O flm g'GUN WITH VARIABLE FIRING FREQUENCY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the presentinvention to provide a mechanical gun of the above general type whichwill avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a gun whichis not operated by spring or pneumatic forces and which has a simplecompact structure which can be operated in a highly convenient mannersimply by manipulation of a trigger.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a gun of thistype with a motor-driven mechanical projecting structure which canoperate continuously, as long as the motor thereof is energized, forthrowing a projectile toward a given target whenever a projectile isreleased for travel to the motordriven projector.

Also, it is one of the more specific objects of the invention to providefor a gun of this type the option of slow or rapid fire according towhich a single projectile can be fired in the slowfire position oraccording to which projectiles can be rapidly fired one after the otherwithout interruption in a rapid fire position of the gun.

Thus, in accordance with the invention the gun includes a projectormeans for projecting the projectiles toward a given target and a supplymeans for supplying the projectiles to the projecting means to beprojected thereby. A manually operable release means coacts with thesupply means for controlling the release of projectiles therefrom to theprojecting means, and this release means has a blocking position forblocking release of projectiles to the projecting means, a slow-fireposition for releasing only one projectile to the projecting means whenthe release means is displaced from its blocking to its slow-fireposition, and a rapid fire position for providing unobstructed travel ofthe projectiles one after the other without interruption to theprojecting means when the release means is displaced from its blockingposition to its rapid fire position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of theinvention, reference is had to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic, perspective illustration of a gun ofthe invention shown assembled with the remainder of an amusement devicewhich includes a target toward which the projectiles are fired;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation fragmentarily showing that part of the gun ofthe invention which is situated just ahead of the stock at the rear ofthe gun, FIG. 2 showing partly in section the manner in which the gun ismounted;

FIG. 3 shows part of the structure of FIG. 2 with a motor housingthereof removed so as to illustrate the details of the structure coveredby the motor housing;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary partly sectional side elevation showing theinterior construction of one molded half of the gun of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary partly sectional side elevation showing thedetails of the interior of the other molded half of the gun of theinvention, FIG. 5 also showing the structure of components which bringabout the firing of the projectiles;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing the release means of FIG. 5 ina position different from thatof FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elongated sectional plan view taken along line 7-7 of FIG.2 in the direction of the arrows; 7

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 8-8 of FIG.2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing components of FIG. 8in a position different from that illustrated in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a transverse section taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 2 in thedirection of the arrows;

FIG. 11 is a perspective illustration of 'a manually operable selectingmeans for selecting different types of operation of the gun; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective illustration of the manually operable releasemeans of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a gun 20of the present invention is illustrated therein assembled with anenclosure 22 which has an upper transparent wall portion 24 throughwhich the rear wall 26 of the enclosure is visible at a front surface ofthis rear wall which carries a suitable target at which the gun 20 isaimed by the operator. The enclosure 22 is mounted on suitable legs 28and has a bottom wall 30 the front end of which is illustrated insection at the lower left part of FIG. 4. This bottom wall 30 forms afloor to which the projectiles rebound from the target at the rear wall26, and this floor is inclined downwardly toward the gun 20 forautomatically returning projectiles to the latter in a manner describedin greater detail below.

As may be seen from FIG. 1, the gun 20 has a rear stock 32 and justforwardly of this stock 32a trigger guard 34. The trigger guard 34 isfragmentarily illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. The operator will manipulate atrigger 36 of the gun with one hand while the other hand of the operatorcan conveniently engage the grip 38 situated forwardly of the triggerguard 34. The gun is basically constructed in two halves each made of asuitably molded plastic and each extending longitudinally of the gunfrom the front tip to the rear end thereof so that the gun islongitudinally split and is made up of a pair of plastic halves whichare assembled with each other and held together by suitable bolts andthe like so as to form the entire gun body which carries the movablecomponents of the gun. The right half 40 of the gun is shown in FIG. 4while the left half 42 is shown in FIG. 5. The trigger guard 34 iscarried only by the right half 40 of the gun while the trigger 36 willbe surrounded by the trigger guard 34 when the gun halves 40 and 42 areassembled in a well-known manner.

The molded gun halves 40 and 42 when attached to each other in theassembled and completed gun provide at the upper front portion of thegun an elongated barrel 44 which at its front end extends through asuitable opening at the front wall 46 of the enclosure 22 (FIG. 1) tocommunicate with the interior of the enclosure 22 where the projectilesare thrown toward the target.

The opposed halves 40 and 42 of the gun respectively have just beneaththe barrel 44 and at the upper end of the grip 38 vertical walls 48which are parallel and spaced from each other and which are formed withcoaxial horizontal recesses in the form of elongated tubular extensions50 which are open only at their inner ends. These tubular extensions 50,the outer end of one of which is visible in FIG. 4, receive a pair ofcoaxial rigid pins which are integrally formed with and projectlaterally from an elongated channel member 52 which has a front endcommunicating with the interior of the enclosure 22 at the front lowestend portion of the floor 30 thereof so that the projectiles P willautomatically roll, after rebounding from the target, downwardly alongthe wall 30 into the elongated channel 52 which is integral with thecoaxial pins received in the cup-shaped cylindrical hollow extensions 50of the side walls 48 of the gun halves 40 and 42. The integral channel52 and pins which extend laterally therefrom are also formedintegrallywith a downwardly directed swivel pin 54 which is freelytumable within a sleeve 56 of a housing 58 which is fixed to the lowerfrontend of the enclosure 22 at the underside of the floor 30 thereof.The swivel pin 54 is maintained in the sleeve 56 by'a riveted endportion 60 of the pin 54 which extends overthe bottom surface of a disc62 which engages the bottom end of the sleeve 56 and cannot enter intothe latter. Thus, the swivel pin 54 turns with the washer 62 to providefor the gun a limited degree of swiveling movement about thesubstantially verticalaxis of the pin 54, and at the same time the gunhas a limited degree of swinging movement about the horizontal axisdefined by the pins which are received in the hollow projections 50which extend laterally from the vertical wall portions 48 of the gunhalves.

The hollow molded grip structure 38 houses at its upper portion part ofa supply means which includes the floor 30 and the channel 52 whichdirects the projectiles to the gun. This supply means includes a channel64 defined by ribs 66 molded at the interiors of the gunhaives 42 and 44with the ribs of the gun halves joining each other to define thephollowchannel 64 which is gravitationally oriented at the rear end of thechannel 52'to receive the projectiles therefrom and direct theprojectiles by their own weight downwardly and toward the rear, as isapparent from the direction in which the channel 64 extends in FIGS. 4and 5.

The bottom endportion of the channel 64 of the supply meansgravitationally directs the projectiles P, in the form of sphericalmembers made of any suitable material, to an elongated race orguide 68which is of, substantially semicircular configuratiomwhich has its lowerend 70 in communication with and situated adjacent the lower dischargeend of the supply means and which has its upper end 72 situated at therear upper portion of. the barrel 44. The race or track 68 is made ofany suitable plastic which has a low coefficient of friction and isassembled with the gun halves in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 7which indicates how the track 68 has in cross section the configurationof a trough along which the projectiles P are capable of freely rolling.This construction of the'track 68 and the assembly of the gun halves isalso apparent from FIG. 10.

As is particularly apparent from FIG. 5, the lower portion of thesemicircular track 68 extends along the lower left peripheral portion ofa rotary impeller 74 which is motor driven to rotate in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in FIG. 5. As may be seen from FIG. the rotaryimpeller 74 is made of a suitable plastic wheel which is ribbed at itsexterior so as to be strengthened and which has at its outer periphery agroove receiving an elastic ring 76 which provides the rotary impeller74 with a high friction at its outer periphery so that the rotaryimpeller 74 will engage the projectiles P with a high degree offriction. As is apparent particularly from the lower portion of FIG. 10,the distance between the elastic ring 76 and the track 68 has withrespect to the diameter of the spherical projectiles P a magnitude whichwill compress the ring 76 slightly so that the projectile P will benecessarily rolled along the track 68 at a speed determined by the speedof rotation of the impeller 74. As is apparent particularly from FIG. 10the impeller is fixedly carried by a central sleeve 78 which extendsthrough an opening of the gun half 42 and which is fixed at its interiorto the shaft 80 of an electric motor 82 which is situated at theexterior of the gun half 42 in a motor housing 84 fixed to the gun as byscrews 86 visible in FIG. 2. Thus, as is apparent from FIG. 2 the motorhousing 84 includes not only the hollow cylindrical portion for themotor 82 but also an elongated hollow rear extension 88, shown also insection in FIG. 7, an elongated hollow forward .extension 90, and adownwardly directed extension 92 which extends along the exterior of thegrip 38 and which is provided with the arrows 94 shown in FIG. 2 asprovided with the designations, from the top to the bottom, OFF, SLOWFIRE, and RAPID FIRE.

In a manner which is described below an electrical circuit of the motor82 is closed to energize the motor and continuously rotate the impeller74. The motor may be energized from suitable batteries connected'to theunderside of the floor 30 of the enclosure 22 at the front end thereofadjacent to the gun.

The ribs which are molded with the gun halves have substantiallywedge-shaped arcuate portions 96 which engage each other when the gun isassembled to define a channel extending upwardly from the impeller 74and directing the projectiles P along the track and into the barrel 44to be thrown forwardly through the latter to the target, as is shownmost clearly in FIG. FIGS. 4 and 5.

Thus, this construction provides the gun with a projecting means capableof receiving the' projectiles from the supply means and projecting theprojectiles forwardly from the gun to a given target.

The gun of the invention operates very reliably. However, on rareoccasions if it shouldhappen that the impeller 74 becomes jammed, it ispossible to free the impeller-by inserting a suitable probe through thearcuate slot 98 formed in the gun half 40 at the part thereof whichextends alongside of the impeller 74. This side of the gun is opposed tothe motor housing 84 as well as the motor 82 so that through the gunhalf 40 and the slot 98 formed therein a suitable probe may beintroduced to engage the ribs of the impeller 74 in order to manuallyturn the latter and thus permit freeing of a jammed impeller if and whenit should happen ,that the impeller becomes jammed.

In accordancewith a further feature of the invention the travel of theprojectiles P from the supply means in a gravitational manner to theprojecting means is controlled by a release means which can beselectively actuated by the operator to provide either for blocking ofthe movement of projectiles to the projecting means, or for slow-fireoperation or rapid fire operation, as is apparent from the designationsbeneath the arrows 94 shown in FIG. 2 and referred to above. It is to beunderstood that duringoperation the impeller 74 is continuously drivenby the motor 82 and will act to project whatever projectiles reach theimpeller 74.

This release means of the invention includes the trigger 36 which isintegral with and situated at one end of an elongated member 100 of therelease means, this member being shown by itself in FIG. 12. Thisrelease means includes at the front end of the elongated strip or member100 thereof a pair of projections 102 and 104. The projection 102 is inthe form of a lug integral with the wall 100 and projecting laterallytherefrom, while the projection 104 is situated higher than and is offseforwardly from the projection 102 and is also in the form of arelatively flat lateral lug integral with the strip 100. This strip orelongated member 100 is situated at the exterior of the gun half '42 inan elongated groove 106 thereof, and the gun half 42 is formed at therear of the groove 106 with an opening passing through the wall of thegun half 42 and through which the rear portion of the strip 100 extendswhere this rear portion is integrally connected with the trigger 36. Forthis reason the trigger 36 is joined to the strip 100 by an inclined webportion 108 which extends through the opening 110 in the gun half 42 andwhich is joined with the trigger 36 by flat reinforcing portions 112. Atthe upper front portion of the trigger 36 this trigger is formed with anopening 114 for one end of a spring 116 (FIG. 5) the forward end ofwhich is hooked on a suitable pin 118 integral with the gun half 42.This spring 1I6 acts as a spring means urging the release meansforwardly to the position shown in FIG. 6 where the projections I02 and104 of the release means engage the forward ends of a a pair of parallelelongated guide slots 120 and 122 formed in the gun half 42. The forwardend of the lower slot 120 extends into the channel 64 so'that the lowerprojection 102 in its position of rest is situated within the channel 64in a blocking position preventing movement of the projectiles to theprojecting means. The upper slot 122 extends from the interior of thechannel 64 of the supply means forwardly out of the latter so that inthe blocking position of the release means which is shown in FIG. 5 theprojection 104 thereof is situated out of the channel 64, and the nextprojectile P can rest directly on the lowermost projectile which isblocked by the blocking projection 102 of the release means.

The release means which thus includes the trigger 36 and the projections102 and 104 includes also an integral rear guide tongue 124 which at itsupper edge slides along the lower surface of a guide member 126 integralwith the gun half 42. At its forward end the strip 100 integrallycarries an exterior strap portion 128 which extends around a manuallyoperable selecting means 130 forming a manually shiftable means which isshown by itself in FIG. 11 and which is shown in FIG. 3 extendingthrough the strap portion 128 of the release means.

This selecting or-manually shiftable means 130 is housed within themotor housing 84 and extends along the extension 92 thereof, as isparticularly apparent from FIG. 8. The extension 92 of the motor housingis formed with an elongated slot 132 through which a fingerpiece 134extends to the exterior of the motor housing to be accessible to theoperator, and this finger-piece 134 is integral with the elongatedplastic selecting member 130 which is guided for longitudinal movementin an elongated recess 136 formed at the exterior of the gun half 42 andsituated within the extension 92 of the motor housing 84. Thus, the slot132 coacts with the finger-piece 134 to guide the latter forlongitudinal movement during manual displacement of the selecting means130. This fingerpiece 134 serves not only for manipulation of theselecting means but also as an index to be aligned with the arrows 94 soas to provide for the different types of operation. Thus, thefingerpiece 134 is shown in FIG. 2 aligned with the top arrow 94' whichindicates that the gun is in the OFF position, and in this position thedriving motor is unenergized and it is not possible for the operator toretract the trigger 36.

As is apparent from FIG. 3 the selecting member 130 has a relativelywide portion extending through the strap 128 and engaging the front endthereof to limit rearward movement of the release means upon rearretraction of the trigger 36, so that with the parts in the position ofFIG. 3 if the operator should wish to operate the gun he will attempt toretract the trigger36 and will realize that the gun cannot be operatedwith the parts in the OFF position.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, above its relatively wide portion theelongated selecting member 130 is stepped so as to have an elongatedupper relatively narrow portion 138, and it is this relatively narrowportion 138 which extends through the strap 128 when the tingerpiece 134is displaced downwardly into alignment with the central arrow 94 shownin FIG. 2. At this time because the narrower upper elongated portion 138of the selecting means 130 extends through the strap 128, the releasemeans can be retracted by the trigger 36 until the front end of thestrap 128 engages the narrower portion 138, or until the rear edges ofthe projections 102 and 104 engage the rear ends of the slots 120 and122, respectively. Thus, at this time the lower blocking projection 102will be displaced rearwardly out of the channel 64 of the supply meanswhile the projection 104 will enter into the channel 162 between thelowermost and the next higher projectile therein, blocking this latternext higher projection from downward movement to the impeller, so thatat this time a single projectile will be released for travel to theimpeller so as to be tired from the 'gun.

It is to be noted that the selecting member 130 acts not only to selectthe type of operation but acts also as a switching member for closingand opening a switch which will energize the motor 82 when the switch isclosed. This switch includes an elongated springy contact 140 which isengaged by an elongated rib 142 at the inner surface of the elongatedselecting means 130 when the fingerpiece 134 is displaced into alignmentwith the intermediate arrow 94, so that in this way the movable contact140 will engage the stationary contact 144 to close the circuit to themotor 82, this circuit including the wires 146 which complete thecircuit through the switch 140, 144 and the motor 82 as well as thebatteries upon closing of the switch 140, 144 by downward movement ofthe selecting or switching member 130.

v This member 130 is made of an electrically nonconductive plastic, asis the case with all of the molded components. Only the switchcomponents 140, 144, the wiring connected thereto, the channel 52 andswivel structure associated therewith, as well as the projectiles paid afew additional elements such as components of the motor 82 and thespring 116 are made of metal.

This nonconductive member 130 has an integral springy tongue 148 whichcarries a detent projection 150 capable of snapping into detent'recessesformed at the inner surface of the hollow extension 92 of the motorhousing. These detent recesses are situated with respect to theprojection 150 at a location which will position the tingerpiece 134respectively in alignment with the arrows 94.

Thus, when the fingerpiece 134 is positioned in alignment with theintermediate arrow 94 the gun is in its slow-fire position and only asingle projectile will be released to the projecting means at eachretraction of the trigger 36. While the blocking projection 102 isdisplaced rearwardly out of the channel 64 to release the lowermostprojectile, the upper projection 104, which acts as a holdbackprojection, enters into the space between the lowermost and next-higherprojectile to hold back all except the lowermost projectile, so that inthe slow-fire position only one projectilewill be tired at eachactuation of the trigger 36. Of course, when the operator releases thetrigger 36 the spring 116 will return it to its forward rest position,returning the parts to the position shown in FIG. 5 where the holdbackprojection 104 is now displaced forwardly out of the channel 64 so thatthe projectiles can now advance downwardly until the lowermostprojectile again engages the blocking projection 102. The operator canagain retract the trigger 36 to the firing position, in opposition tothe spring 116, and the projections 102 and 104 of the release meanswill now be displaced again to the rear positions, shown in FIG. 6,where only the lowermost projectile P is released, as is apparent fromFIG. 6.

The lower blocking projection 102, visible in FIG. 12 through a slot ofmember which is aligned with the strap 128, has a length which isgreater that that of the upper holdback projection 104. Also, it will benoted that the selecting member 130 has at its upper narrower portion138 an outwardly ofiset camming portion 152 which is accommodated in thehollow interior of the motor housing 84. This camming portion 152 issituated in the upper part of the hollow extension 92 while the strap128 is freely displaceable into the hollow interior of the extension 90.of the motor housing 84. Thus, with this construction when thefingerpiece 134 is displaced into alignment with the lowest arrow 94,the camming portion 152 of the selecting means 130 will camthe releasemeans to the right, as viewed in FIG. 8, thus locating the shorterholdback projection 104 to the right of the channel 64. This position ofthe parts is shown in FIG. 9. While the longer blocking projection 102still extends into the channel 64 so as to prevent displacement of theprojectiles P as long as the trigger 36 remains in its rest positionshown in FIG. 5, the holdback projection 104 has been retractedlaterally toward the interior of the motor housing 84 to an extentsufficient to locate the holdback projection 104 at this time out of thechannel 64 even when the trigger 36 is retracted. Of course, the member130 will still maintain the switch 140, 144 closed, so that the motorcontinues to run. Therefore, when the parts are in the position with thefingerpiece aligned with the lowest arrow 94, which is the RAPID FIREposition, upon retraction of the trigger 36 by the operator inopposition to the spring 116 the blocking projection 102 will be movedto the end of slot opposite from the position shown in FIG. 6 while theholdback projection 104 will remain laterally displaced to the exteriorof the channel 64, so that now the projectiles P are free to movegravitationally without any interruption one after the other to theprojecting means formed by the rotary impeller 74, the track 68, and thebarrel 44. Thus, when the operator chooses to provide rapid fireoperation of the gun the projectiles will be continuously fired oneafter the other without interruption.

Thus, it will be seen that the unit illustrated by itself in FIG. 12forms a manually shiftable release means which fixedly carries thetrigger 36 by means of which the entire release means is shifted. Thisrelease means is shifted from the rest position where the projection 102acts as a blocking means for blocking movement of the projectiles to theprojecting means to the slow-fire position where the projection 104 actsas a holdback means for preventing release of all but one of theprojectiles to the projecting means. This movement from the rest to theslow-fire position is brought about by longitudinal shifting of therelease means as shown in FIG. 12. An additional lateral shifting of therelease means will place it in its rapid fire position in which therelease means remains stationary with both of the projections 102 and104 being retracted away from the path of movement of the projectile P.

The device is provided with a sufficient number of projectiles toguarantee return of projectiles by the supply means to the projectingmeans at a rate which is sufficiently high to maintain a substantiallycontinuous stream of projectiles at high frequency traveling toward thetarget.

It is therefore apparent that with the gun of the invention the operatorcan select either slow-fire operation or rapid fire operation. With theslow-fire operation, the release means formed by the member 100 and allof the parts connected thereto will act to release only one projectileto be projected from the gun at each retraction of the trigger 36 fromits rest position to its firing position, and in this case it isnecessary for the trigger 36 to be returned to its rest position beforethe next projectile can be fired.

On the other hand, in the rapid fire position, because of the lateralretraction of the holdback projection 104 to a location where it neverenters into the channel 64, the retraction of the trigger 36 to thefiring position will provide for unobstructed uninterrupted travel ofthe projectiles one after the other to the projecting means formed bythe rotary impeller 74, the track 68 and the barrel 44. It is to benoted that in the OFF position the retraction of the trigger to thefiring position is blocked, so that the parts can act as a safety devicewhen the member 130 has been displaced to the OFF position, and ofcourse in this latter position the circuit of the motor 82 is open. Onthe other hand, it is to be noted that both in the slowfire position andin the rapid fire position the trigger 36 is actuated in precisely thesame way. In other words the trigger 36 need not be manipulated in oneway during rapid fire operation and in another way during slow-fireoperation. During rapid fire operation the trigger is retracted to thesame firing position as during slow-fire operation, and in the rapidfire position as long as the operator holds the trigger in the firingposition there will be a continuous firing of the projectiles one afterthe other toward the target.

The hollow interior of the motor housing 84, the space formed by thegroove 106 and other recesses at the exterior of the gun half 42, thesize of the opening 110, and the dimensions of the release means formedby the elongated strip 100 and the parts connected thereto are such thatin cooperation with the selecting means 130 there is sufficient spacefor the release means to be reciprocated in the direction of triggermovement as well as to be laterally tilted perpendicularly to I thedirection of trigger movement in order to retract the holdbackprojection 104 out of and return it into the plane in which the channel64 is located.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense. y

it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

We claim:

1. In a gun, projecting means for projecting projectiles toward a giventarget, a communicating supply means for supplying projectiles to theprojecting means, manually reciprocable trigger means having projectionsextending into the path of the projectiles being fed to, the projectingmeans, manually shiftable means coacting with the trigger means to varythe extent to which the projections extend into the path of theprojectiles, said shiftable means being shiftable initially to aslow-fire position where at least two of said projections interrupt theflow of projectiles, and a rapid fire position where only one projectioninterrupts the flow of projectiles, said trigger means being movable toposition the one projection, when the latter is initially set in a rapidfire position, so as not to interfere with the flow of projectiles tothe projecting means, said trigger means also being movable to positionthe projections, when the latter are initially set in a slow-fireposition, so that with each reciprocation of said trigger means oneprojectile will be permitted to move past the projections to beprojected from the projecting means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said supply means includes achannel along which said projectiles travel, said channel being orientedfor gravitationally directing said projectiles to said projecting means.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein the one projection is longerthan the other projectionand extends into said channel of said supplymeans to an extent greater than said other projection, said shiftablemeans when placed in said rapid fire position coacting with said triggermeans for displacing said projections substantially perpendicularly tothe direction of projectile fiow.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said trigger means includes anelongated strip carrying a trigger at one end and said projections at anopposite end, said channel being formed with slots extendingsubstantially in the direction of trigger travel and respectivelyreceiving said projections for guiding them for movement into and out ofsaid channel, said shiftable means including an elongated switchingmember ex tending substantially perpendicularly to the direction oftrigger travel and to said strip, said strip carrying a strap whichextends around said switching member to provide for control of saidtrigger means through said shiftable means, said switching member ofsaid shiftable means coacting with one end of said strap to preventmovement of said trigger means when said shiftable means is in aninitial position thereof, and said switching member having a steppedportion coacting with said strap to provide for displacement of saidtrigger means to an extent which will locate said other projection insaid channel and said one projection out of said channel when saidtrigger means is actuated, said switching member of said shiftable meanshaving at a free end a lateral camming portion coacting with said strapfor deflecting the latter perpendicularly to said elongated strip ofsaid trigger means in a direction locating said other projection out ofsaid channel even when said trigger means is actuated, and said cammingprojection coacting with said strap to deflect said trigger meansperpendicularly to the direction of projectile flow when said shiftablemeans is shifted to said rapid fire position thereof.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a spring means coacts with atrigger means for returning the latter to said rest position thereofwhen released by the operator.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said projecting means includesa rotary impeller, a barrel, and a guide track guiding projectilesdriven by said rotary impeller to said barrel to be thrown out of thelatter, said impeller and guide track coacting with each other to gripprojectiles therebetween and roll the projectiles along said track untilthey reach said barrel.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said rotary impeller includesa motor driven wheel having a periphery of a high coefficient offriction for engaging the projectiles, said projectiles being of aspherical configuration, and said track extending in part around saidimpeller to a location terminating substantially at the rear end of saidbarrel so that the projectiles will be projected along said track bysaid rotary imbeneath said axis of said impeller and at a location lowerthan the latter to a location at an opposite end substantially over theaxis of said impeller and adjacentto the rear end of said barrel, saidtrack having the configuration of a trough and being made of a materialwhich has a low coefficient of friction.

